When Life Gives You Tangerines Review
Director: Kim Won-suk
Date Created: 2025-03-08 12:35
4.5
When Life Gives You Tangerines Review: Directed by Kim Won-suk, 폭싹 속았수다 is a 16-episode Netflix K-drama that sweeps us off our feet on Jeju Island. The drama features IU as O Ae-sun, Park Bo-gum as Yang Gwan-sik, and a great supporting cast of Moon So-ri, Park Hae-joon, Kim Tae-yeon, and Lee Chun-moo. With its captivating blend of love, hardship, and nostalgia, the drama brings to life life in the 1950s and also old man Ae-sun’s flashbacks about his life.
When Life Gives You Tangerines Review
Having watched the first four episodes, I can honestly say that this is a gem of a series. The writing, the photography, and the acting are all superb, and it’s one of the most addictive period dramas I’ve ever watched. It’s heart-wrenching on so many levels, but at the same time, it’s also beautifully personal, as if we’re seeing someone’s actual life highs and lows.
Right from the 1st episode, Netflix’s When Life Gives You Tangerines establishes that sense of optimism mixed with sadness. The episode starts with older Ae-sun fighting to pen down a poem, her mind meandering away into her Jeju childhood. It beautifully establishes the show as her life being shown in a flashback, setting us up for this not being some mere coming-of-age story but one of aspirations, of giving up things, and of burdens of what others expect.
Young Ae-sun, winsomely portrayed by IU, is a bright girl who wants to be a poet, but life has something different in store for her. She resides in a fishing community in which the women are divers (Haenyeo), and she has a difficult childhood. Her mother, though loving, attempts to pawn her off to live a better life, but Ae-sun refuses to be parted from her. This mother-daughter relationship is the most tragic element of the soap opera.
Ae-sun struggles to take care of herself and her stepbrothers and sister when her mom gets sick and passes away not long after that. It is all so terrible, but is presented in such poetic terms it never feels it’s too much. The presentation of the program between tragedy and moments of humanity and humor that it achieves between the two aspects is what remains so memorable about it.
IU is great playing Ae-sun. Her performance captures the frustration of a girl who wants more from life but is always held back by fate. My favorite is how natural she is playing the role—no melodrama, no overacting. She brings Ae-sun to life with a quiet strength, and her struggles become all the more lovable.
Park Bo-gum, playing Gwan-sik, is just as great. His is a quiet personality but one who is absolutely committed to Ae-sun. He’s been by her side since she was a child, bending over backwards for her, even when she doesn’t even like it. His affection for her is true and earnest, but here’s the catch: Ae-sun doesn’t so much return his affection as you would expect to find in a romance drama. She wants to experience the world beyond Jeju, but Gwan-sik is contented with what he has. This provides a deep contrast between the two, so their love story is both sweet and bittersweet.
One of the things that truly makes When Life Gives You Tangerines kdrama stand out is its cinematography. Jeju Island is beautiful, and the show does it justice in a way that is almost surreal. Whether the expansive ocean, rolling hills, or quaint village life, every shot is like a painting.
Ae-sun’s recollections of her childhood and present recollections operate on another level of storytelling. There is no distinction between past and present because it is like watching the subject live through their memories in real time instead of reading about it.
What is so lovely about this drama is the manner in which it addresses the issue of sacrifice. Ae-sun’s fate is shaped by the world she lives in—she gets married, bears children, and sacrifices her dreams. She is even denied the chance of taking her own destiny when she does try. Whether it is the shattered word of her stepfather to fund her education at college, cruelty of the mother-in-law, or cold-bloodedness of being a woman in that time, nothing seems to deter her from a life which she never desired.
And in the process, Gwan-sik gives up things too. He foregoes opportunities simply to catch a glimpse of Ae-sun, even when his own relatives do not condone it. It’s not a love story of romance between them alone—it’s of two individuals striving to endure a world that is attempting to rip them away from each other.
Outside of Ae-sun and Gwan-sik, the remaining cast are fleshed out. Ae-sun’s stepfather isn’t evil per se, but he handles her like a sitter for his children rather than letting her lead her own life. She’s treated meanly by her in-laws but puts up with them due to love of her family. Even secondary characters like her stepmom and villagers are fleshed out, so the world is detailed.
Perhaps the most moving moment occurs in Ae-sun’s encounter with her daughter, Geum-Myeong, in the 1990s timeline. Witnessing Ae-sun attempting to give her child the life she never had is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching. It serves as a reminder that no matter how much time has passed, the hardships of one generation always have a way of ushering in the next.
When Life Gives You Tangerines Episode 1 to 4 Review: Summing Up
If the initial four episodes are anything to go by, When Life Gives You Tangerines K-drama will be one of the year’s best shows. It is beautifully scripted, emotionally impactful, and well-performed by all the cast. The mix of historical drama, romance, and family drama is a must-watch for everyone who loves wholesome storytelling. Although it does drag at times, it never gets dull because each episode advances the richness of the characters and their world.
